The Journey of Music from Tape Players to Spotify

The production history of music is another matter, but the story of consumption technologies is also very interesting. Almost all of the cassette players, which were once indispensable accessories of our daily lives, are either in a collection or forgotten somewhere. However, these devices, which marked a generation and completely changed the experience of listening to music, took the world by storm when they were released. After that, it was Walkman's turn, then MP3 players. All of these devices, each of which were of great importance for their generation, have almost been forgotten. Although it has not been long, today we use online streaming applications such as Spotify on our smartphones to listen to music. We can listen to music anytime, anywhere.

Cassette tapes appeared with magnetic tape recorders in the 1960s. The most popular of the cassette decks produced with them were the double-eyed models that allowed cassette duplication. Those who remember those days will also remember the time spent on tapes. As a branch of tradesmen, tape recorders emerged at that time and deeply affected people's lives for a long time. Mixed cassettes and announced records disappeared from our lives with these shops.

In 1979, the famous Japanese brand Sony introduced the Walkman to the public. Thus began a revolution that would last for many years. Bringing the habit of listening to music with headphones to the music industry, Walkman would also rewrite the habit of listening to music. We didn't have to listen to the music in a certain place, we could carry it with us. Even today, this iconic device is considered Sony's greatest achievement. Sony sold 31 million Walkmans in 31 years. The reign of CDs, which were released after cassettes, would be much shorter. With the rise of the Internet wave, mp3 format files came out.

Although the first mp3 players had high prices and low capacities, we started to see these devices in the hands of people everywhere. The mp3 player, which is a much smaller and lighter device compared to the Walkman, allowed many more songs to be carried with you. The most memorable device of this period was the iconic mp3 player named iPod produced by Apple.

Illegal music sharing, which increased as compressed music files gradually took over the music market, gave birth to legal streaming channels after a while. Streaming platforms, which offer the opportunity to listen to countless songs with a subscription, instead of illegal music sharing, pay royalties to musicians. These sites, also called music libraries, allow you to listen and save songs. With these platforms, you carry not only your own music, but all the different music in the world in your pocket. You can listen to personalized playlists for you. The most famous of these channels is Spotify, which has more than 270 million users and 125 million members worldwide. A tape could contain up to 12 songs, while Spotify allows you to carry the entire music library of the world with you. Say what? A lot has changed since cassette tapes, hasn't it?

So what are the advantages of Spotify? What kind of conveniences does Spotify, which is among the most used music platforms today, provide? Let's talk a little bit about them.

Cassette decks, MP3, CDs, records and record players… All these were of course very useful tools in their own time. However, they cannot keep up with today's speed. Spotify is an application that keeps up with the technology in its developmental age and is in intense interaction with its user. You can listen to any song you want, with or without internet, and save them. You can create your own music list and share it with your loved ones. With many more features like this, Spotify is more advantageous than old music listening tools. However, even after a long time, records and record players are still the passion of many people.

So, while the technology is so advanced, what could be the reasons for still listening to a record? You are welcome to our article Retro Technologies – Records and Record Players to learn.